Eddie Obeid associate Nati Stoliar pleads guilty to money laundering

Kate McClymont

Former high-flying property developer Nati Stoliar is facing a possible 20-year jail term in the United States after pleading guilty to money laundering and wire fraud offences.

Stoliar, 64, is a long-time friend and business associate of former Labor powerbroker Eddie Obeid.

On Tuesday, Stoliar pleaded guilty in a federal court in Las Vegas to a series of fraudulent schemes connected to biodiesel credits worth more than $41 million. Stoliar pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in money laundering, two counts of wire fraud and one count of making false statements under the Clean Air Act.

“Stoliar and his co-conspirator [James Jariv] perpetrated a massive fraud against a renewable fuels program created to protect our nation’s energy security and independence,” said Sam Hirsch, Acting Assistant Attorney-General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division. “The Justice Department will continue to pursue fraudsters at home and abroad and protect the integrity of federal programs as it protects the environment.”

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Jariv, who has joint American and Israeli citizenship, fled Australia in 2004 owing angry creditors $6 million over an uncompleted apartment block in Chippendale. People who had purchased off-the-plan apartments were saddled with huge bills to make the building habitable.

Jariv and Stoliar, who were in business together in Australia, later set up companies in Canada where they falsely claimed to be producers of biodiesel from “feedstocks" such as animal fats and vegetable oils.

The pair conspired to launder the proceeds of their crimes, using account in Canada, Nevada and Australia.

Stoliar, who will be sentenced in Las Vegas in October, is facing a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. According to the statement, “Stoliar is required by the plea to forfeit $4 million and pay $1 million in restitution, plus a multi-million fine.”

Stoliar and Eddie Obeid were involved in a secret plan to redevelop Sydney’s fish markets. In 2002 Obeid told parliament that “Mr Nati Stoliar [was] someone known to me and to my family for several years."